


in the dark beside you

by orphan_account



Series: Fantastic Vampires and Where to Find Them [3]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Percy's in trouble oops, im so bad at this tagging thing im sorry, so is another certain someone oWo, vampire!Percival Graves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-06 08:23:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8742268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Percival is in grave (haha) danger, and finds that sometimes help comes from the most unexpected of places.





	1. Night One

Looking back, all the signs probably started appearing about a month ago. Graves was no stranger to the feeling of being watched (especially after the whole Grindelwald incident), but recently it began to feel like more than just his paranoia acting up. Whenever he was out walking - especially in the daytime, when he was forced to wear those stupid sunglasses - there always seemed to be strange figures following him, just out of sight. Graves just ignored it. After all, he figured nothing could be worse than getting kidnapped by the most powerful dark wizard in history, right?

 

He was so incredibly wrong.

 

“Goldstein, I need you to come with me  _ right now. _ ” 

 

Tina looked up in surprise. Graves’ tall form filled her doorway, his face unnaturally pale (more so than usual, anyway) and chest huffing. The man seemed out of breath, which was certainly not normal for a vampire.

 

“Graves?” She furrowed her eyebrows. “What are you still doing here? I thought you left an hour ago.”

 

“I did.” His voice sounded  _ panicked.  _ If there was one thing Tina could say about Graves in all her years of ~~loving~~ knowing him, it was that he never,  _ ever _  panicked. “You just really need to come see this.”

They were down the the stairs and out of the MACUSA building in five minutes flat. Now Tina was the one out of breath. It turned out trying to keep up with a rushing vampire was not a good hobby to keep. “Percival, for Merlin’s sake  _ slow down. _ ” She gasped. The crisp winter air burned going down her throat. He ignored her request. Suddenly the surroundings became eerily familiar and she jogged to keep up with the man. “Wait, Percival, are we going to your apartment?”

 

He didn’t say anything, only nodded, nostrils flaring. “I didn’t know what else to do. He’s your friend.”

 

“What do you mean ‘he’s my friend’, Percival? What are you talking about?” Tina questioned. He didn’t respond, only pausing to open the door and let Tina into the warm apartment building before him. He bypassed the elevator, instead leaping up the stairs two steps at a time. Percival lived on the top floor of his apartment building in Manhattan, which meant they had to climb a good eighteen flights of stairs until they reached their destination. Percival was already anxiously waiting by his door at the end of the hallway when Tina finally managed to climb the last step, huffing and puffing all the way. “I swear Graves, this better be good.” She cursed.

 

“It’s not good at all, actually.” He took a step aside from the door, and Tina gasped.

 

“Oh my God…” She whispered, hand rising up to cup her mouth in shock at the sight of what was in front of her.

 

“It’s one of Newt’s beasts, isn’t it?” Graves sighed. She could only nod in response. The poor mole-like creature had been pinned to the door using two nails through the throat. Sticky black blood ran down and pooled onto the carpet beneath it. “Yeah, I uh, I thought as much.” They stood in silence for a while, letting the scene before them sink in.

 

“It’s a Murtlap.” Tina managed to choke out. “Why would somebody do this to you? To Newt? I don’t understand, Percival.”

 

“I don’t either.” He sighed. It was a lie. Percival understood completely why somebody would do something like this. It was written out clearly in the one-word note attached to the poor Murtlap before Percival shoved it in his pocket. “We have to tell Newt.” 

 

Tina nodded. “I know.” She swallowed thickly. “We need to bring this inside, the no-maj’s can’t see it.” 

 

Percival nodded. Tina conjured up a bag, and quickly cleaned up the mess on Percival’s door. Graves grabbed a key out of one of his coat pockets and they both stepped inside. Percival shrugged off his coat jacket, leaving him in just a vest and his dress shirt. “Just…put it in the bathroom or something. We’ll tell Newt tomorrow.”

 

Tina put the bag in the bathroom sink before returning to the living room and plopping down on the loveseat. “He’s going to be upset.”

 

“You think?” Graves snorted.

 

Tina shot him a dirty look. “You know how much he cares for his creatures, Percival.”

 

“Yeah, I do know.” He rubbed the back of his neck and stretched out on the couch. “That’s why I hate that we have to tell them they’re all in danger.”

 

“You’re kidding.” Tina sat up. Graves shook his head in reply, running a hand anxiously through his hair. A dark strand at the top of his head fell to the side. “How do you know?”

 

“There was a note on the door next to the murtlap.” He shrugged. “All it said was ‘freak’, but I think the message was pretty clear.”

 

“You think somebody is trying to get rid of Newt’s creatures?”

 

“Not just the creatures. Why do you think it was attached to my door?” Graves replied bitterly.

 

Tina pursed her lips. “Groups fighting against the rights for magical creatures are pretty common over in Europe.” She said. “Some of them must have come over along with Grindelwald.”

 

“What is it with those damn Europeans wizards and their obsession with killing me?” Graves growled. 

 

“We’ll figure it out tomorrow. Right now we need to get some sleep.”

 

He raised an eyebrow at her. “We?”

 

“Yes, ‘we’.” She insisted. “If you think I’m going to leave you alone in your apartment after you just got sent a death threat you are entirely mistaken, Percy.”

 

“I did  _ not  _ get sent a death threat-”

 

“They nailed a dead creature to your door!”

 

“The creature was dead, not me!”

 

Tina sighed. “I’m just staying the night. If nothing happens, it will never have to happen again.”

 

“I don’t need a babysitter.” Percival grumbled. 

 

“I’m not babysitting. I’m making sure assassins don’t try to kill you in the middle of the night.”

 

“Nobody’s going to try and sneak in again-”

 

“Percival.” Tina warned. He stopped pacing around the room and stared down at her. 

 

“Fine.” He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Usually I’d offer to take the couch, but my living room isn’t properly equipped against sunlight.” He apologized.

 

“That’s fine.” Tina assured him. “I was going to sleep out her anyway. Kind of hard to keep people from getting you when you’re the first thing they see when they walk in.”

 

“You’re not going to have to worry about that.” Percival grumbled.

 

“We’ll see.”

 

~~~

 

Tina was awoken just before daybreak, when the sky was still dark but the sun was visible on the horizon. Screams cut through the calm morning air, and she was on her feet with wand in hand less than ten seconds after waking up, but a quick glance towards the door revealed the sealing charm she had placed was still up. Another yell broke through the air, and it sounded like it was coming from Percival’s room. She quickly ran down the hall and threw open his door.

 

Nobody was in the room with him. Instead she saw Graves curled up tight as a fist on his bed, blankets balled up near his feet. He would lash out occasionally, accompanied by a pained yelp that sounded more like a dog than a human. 

 

Tina didn’t forget about what had happened last time she woke Graves from his sleep. “Graves.” She called out, stepping closer while still keeping her distance. “Graves.”

 

He didn’t respond, still caught up in whatever nightmare he was currently trapped in. “Graves, it’s me.” She called out again. Each step brought her closer to his wound up form. Tentatively, she reached out and brushed her fingers across his bare shoulder. “Percival, I’m here.” She whispered as she did so.

 

To his credit, he didn’t attack her this time. Instead he sat up bolt right in the bed, eyes a fiery crimson red, grabbing the blankets to the side and fisting them up in his hands. His dark hair was hanging of his his forehead in strands, and his face and chest were covered with a light sheen of sweat. Then he saw Tina standing to the side, and his eyes turned back to the deep brown she knew and the wildness left them. “Goldstein.” He gasped.

 

“I didn’t know you got nightmares.” She said calmly, sitting down on the bed next to him. Percival flinched at the movement, but Tina pretended not to notice.

 

“Yeah.” He replied shakily, running a trembling hand through his hair in an attempt to smooth it back into place. “Ever since, uh, Grindelwald, you know.” He laughed nervously.

 

“He can’t get to you anymore.” Tina reassured him. She debated on whether or not it was a good idea to put her hand on his shoulder. She decided for it, and he didn’t flinch at the contact. If anything he seemed to lean into her touch.

 

“I know that.” He stressed. “That’s not what I have nightmares about.”

 

Tina could see in his eyes how difficult it was for him to be saying this. “Percival, if you don’t want to-”

 

“Before I got turned, before you guys found me, he did anything he could to get his hands on my memories.” He whispered softly. “He tried to get into my mind; he didn’t realize that I was a skilled occlumens for that exact reason.” He laughed bitterly again and didn’t speak for a moment.

 

“You don’t have to talk if you don’t want to.”

 

“I know.” He closed his eyes and opened them again. “He knew he wasn’t going to get everything he needed out of me that way, so then he tried to use the Imperius curse on me. That was about as useful as the first time. Looking back, I think he wanted to be as decent as possible in the beginning. That changed after a while. He’s not a very patient man, you know, and he couldn’t go around looking like me if he didn’t know what I did. That’s when he started using the Cruciatus curse.”

 

“Percival.” Tina gasped. 

 

“I tried to fight it, Tina, I really did. It nearly drove me insane, and while my guard was down he was finally able to get into my head.”

 

“We all understand, Percival. There’s nothing you could’ve done..” The sun was beginning to rise over the horizon and the sky turn from inky black to deep purple.

 

“The first time I used magic without a wand he seemed surprised. I think he was relieved, even. He told me that meant he didn’t have to hide his own power when he looked like me.” Tina could hear the bitterness in Percival’s voice, consuming him like a poison. “After that he broke my hands.” 

 

Percival recoiled then, his hands clenching into fists so tightly she was surprised his fingers didn’t break, and Tina leaned back from him. They sat in silence for a moment before something crossed Tina’s mind.

 

“When we were in Boston you never had nightmares. Not once.” She began.

 

“It was the best two weeks of sleep I’ve ever gotten.” He agreed.

 

“How come?”

 

It took a moment for his response. “Because you were there.” He whispered. 

 

Tina let his words sink in. “Let’s get some sleep.” She decided. “We don’t have to be in the office for another couple of hours and you barely got any.”

 

Percival nodded silently and lay back down on his side, staring blankly out the window as the sky turned into a dark shade of blue and the sun could be seen in between the buildings. Tina surprised him him then by laying down in front of him. She sat in fear for a moment, worried he was going to make her leave, but instead he wrapped a strong arm around her waist and pulled her closer to his chest. His face nuzzled her neck, and she felt his cool breath on her skin. His own skin wasn’t icy cold, but it was definitely much colder than hers. 

  
She didn’t mind.


	2. Day One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tina and Percival deliver some bad news.

 

Newt’s new office was close to the basement of the MACUSA building, nearly ten floors underground. He hadn’t been terribly happy with the arrangement (“Most of my creatures can sense when they’re underground, you know, even through the suitcase, and they don’t like it.”), but it was the best they could do for the British wizard. His office was small, and filled with all sorts of containers and books and maps. 

 

Graves and Tina stood anxiously outside the door. She didn’t think she had  _ ever  _ seen the man as nervous as he was right now. “Ok.” He cleared his throat. “We’ll go in, you’ll break the news, and we’ll explain why he needs to secure the animals in something besides a fake suitcase.”

 

Tina raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me? Why do I have to tell him? You’re the one that found the creature!”

 

“He’s  _ your  _ friend. You know I’m not good at this stuff, Tina.” Graves pleaded. She looked up at him and sighed.

 

“Fine. But you  _ seriously  _ owe me after this.” The witch grumbled. She rapped gently on the door and it was open in flash, Newt’s gangly figure and untidy hair filling the frame. He looked entirely overwhelmed.

 

Graves immediately sniffed at the air. “Is that...Scamander, why does is smell like sulfur in here?”

 

“I was testing out a new lure for attracting creatures.” Newt quickly explained. “It’s nothing too serious, I promise.” Graves pushed past him into the room, Tina following closely behind. “Now really, there’s no need-”

 

Graves stopped in his tracks, glaring at the large ovular object in front of him. “Scamander, I am going to count to close my eyes and when I open them I’ll realize that the dragon egg on that desk is just an illusion.” Graves warned. “One, two, three…”

 

“I didn’t buy it!” Newt protested. Graves opened his eyes, and Tina went over to the dragon egg. “I swear. I rescued it from a group of poachers. They were gonna sell him. I’m just looking for a way to get him back home, I swear.”

 

Tina inspected the egg, which was rested on a bed of red hot coals.. It was a shimmery, metallic grey, with ruby red undertones. She could feel the heat radiating off of it even from five feet away. It was close to hatching. “Newt, that’s a Ukranian Ironbelly.” She gasped. “If Picquery finds out you have an egg so close to hatching, she’ll have it destroyed.”

 

“I’ve worked with Ironbellies before.” Newt pleaded. “I’ll get it back to a reserve in Ukraine before it can do any harm.” 

 

Cold anger shone through Graves’ eyes. “Do you realize how  _ reckless  _ and  _ dangerous  _ it is to keep this thing here? It could ruin everything we’ve worked for! Our secrecy; the employees, civilians, even your creatures.”

 

“I know, I know.” Newt looked towards the egg. If Graves didn’t know better he would’ve called the boy’s gaze  _ motherly.  _ “I couldn’t just leave him to be sold.” He added softly.

 

“How long have you had it, Scamander?”

 

Newt didn’t look away from the egg. “...just a little over a week.” He whispered.

 

“Are you telling me that you’ve had the opportunity to get this thing out of here for a  _ week  _ and it’s still here? This isn’t just illegal, Newt, it’s idiotic!” Graves never yelled, and to Newt that was probably the worst part. You could tell what somebody was thinking when they were yelling. Graves kept his tone cool and calculated during the entire discussion, making Newt more and more nervous.

 

“My contacts won’t be here to transport him for another three days, I promise he’ll be out of here before the hatching.” Newt plead. “You can’t tell Picquery; she’ll have him killed. Please.”

 

Tina had enough. “Percival, now is not the time. We can take care of this later.” She snapped. Her body turned slowly towards Newt, expression softening. “Now listen, Newt...we have to tell you something.”

 

Newt looked up from the egg he was cooing at. “Hm?” 

 

Tina shot Graves a nervous look, but the man simply shrugged in response. He still looked livid about the dragon egg, and Tina knew that wasn’t the end of  _ that  _ discussion. “Well...do you happen to be missing any animals?”

 

He began to look concerned. “How do you know? Listen, I know he’s loose and has a tendency to bite, but so does Mr. Graves and we don’t lock  _ him  _ up-”

 

“Why you little-”

 

Tina slapped Percival’s arm. He glared at her and sat back on the table. “No, it’s not about locking it up Newt.” Tina continued softly. She pulled the sack from behind her back. “This is going to be hard, but we found him at Graves’ apartment this morning.

 

“What do you mean? Why would he be there?”

 

Tina looked down, and Newt’s eyes grew wide. “We wanted to return him so you could have a proper burial. We thought that would be something you’d want.” She explained softly.

 

Newt grabbed the bag and peeked in. He recoiled and took out the dead Murtlap, cradling it in his arms. “Oh, no no no…” He whispered. He looked up at the two Aurors, eyes wet and glassy from tears. “I don’t understand. Why was he at your apartment? Why would anybody want to hurt Murr?” He choked out.

 

_ Oh God, he gave the thing a name,  _ Graves groaned internally. “We think there’s a creature anti-rights group in the city.” Graves explained, trying his best to sound empathetic. The words sounded insincere and mechanical, even to himself. “Creatures including yours...and me. I’d advise you to secure your case in a safe location until Goldstein and I track down who’s responsible.” 

 

“I want to help.” Newt responded immediately. “I want to help catch whoever did this to Murr.”

 

Graves shot Tina a look. They both stepped into the far corner away from Newt, giving them space to talk and Newt privacy. “He’ll just get in the way. He’s not trained.”

 

“He was a huge part in stopping Grindelwald and rescuing you.” Tina snapped. 

 

“He released dozens of magical animals all over the city and there is now a Thunderbird living in Central Park.” Percival hissed. “Do you know how much that thing costs to keep hidden?”

 

“But he-”

 

“Not to mention he’s harboring a Class XXXXX magical creature. I don’t care if he’s got people coming to pick the damn thing up or not, Picquery has got to know or we’ll all be in even more trouble.”

 

“I think he can help.” Tina insisted.

 

“ _ How _ ?” He hissed. Tina could see the frustration brewing behind his eyes.

 

“He said he rescued the dragon egg from poachers. That could be a lead.”

 

Percival growled and pinched the the bridge of his nose. “Fine.” He snapped. “But under my conditions, got it?”

 

“Deal.” Tina agreed. 

 

They both turned towards Newt. During their conversation he gently placed the murtlap on the table and covered it with a large piece of cloth draping from the chair. He looked up at the two Aurors with puppy dog eyes. “We’ve decided you could be of use.” Graves grumbled. “But  _ only  _ if you turn that dragon egg in.” 

 

Newt looked dejected. “Mr. Graves, if I turn it in he’ll die. I can’t.”

 

“Either you turn it in or I’ll be forced to report you, Scamander.” Graves growled. Newt didn’t look as intimidated as he would have hoped.

 

“I have an idea.” Tina said. Both men looked at her. “Dragon eggs aren’t cheap; the people you sto - rescued it from can’t be too happy about it.” 

 

Newt smiled. “They’re probably going to want it back.” He continued.

 

Percival growled. “No, no,  _ no-” _

 

“And that means we can use it as a trap.” Tina finished. 

 

“We’ll only have a short window of time to work in.” Newt continued. “The egg can only be off of the flames for two hours at most if I use a heat charm on it.”

 

“We can work with that.” Tina agreed.

 

“This mission is  _ not  _ approved by me or Picquery.” Percival interrupted. “We are not using a dragon egg as bait when it’s days away from hatching. It’s too dangerous, and I can’t even stress how  _ illegal- _ ”

 

“We’ll get it approved.” Tina argued. “You can convince Picquery; she only listens to you anyway. This can work, Graves.”

 

Percival hung his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, mouth drawn into a thin line and eyes clenched shut. He finally looked up after a minute of hard thinking and stared at the two wizards in front of him. “Fine. I’ll talk to Picquery.” He snapped. “But if she does approve, I will only argue within reason. I’m not pushing anything. If she doesn’t approve, we do this  _ my  _ way. That means no dragons, no Mr. Scamander, and a hell of a lot of Aurors.”

 

“But-”

 

“That’s all I’m going to compromise, Mr. Scamander.” Graves growled. “I will leave you time to grieve. Me and Ms. Goldstein must be off to prepare the case.”

 

Tina shot off a kind smile at Newt, who managed to smile back just the slightest. Both of the Aurors left the room, relieved to be in the cool space of the corridor. They began their way towards the elevator.

 

“That was really nice, you know.” Tina broke the silence as Percival pressed the button. “I know how much you hate bending the rules during missions.” 

 

“It’s not bending the rules I hate. It’s putting people in unnecessary danger, which a dragon egg most certainly does.” Graves growled in return.

 

“Still. I’m sure Newt’s grateful you’re willing to do this for him. You know how much he loves his creatures, even the illegal ones.”

 

“I’m not doing it for him. For some unholy reason you seem to care about the damned things too.” He replied bitterly. 

 

Tina gasped mockingly, placing a hand over her heart. “Why, is that  _ jealousy  _ I hear in your tone, Percy?” She laughed. He scowled in reply.

 

“I’m not some schoolboy, Goldstein.” 

 

Tina smiled and shook her head, staring down at the floor. When the elevator finally reached their destination she barely had time to follow after Percival. 

 

“Whatever happens, all that matters is we catch them, okay?” Tina reassured, jogging to keep up with Percival’s long strides.  _ Curse  _ that man and his height.

 

“I know.” He replied. He paused outside of his office, half of his body sticking through the doorway and no doubt getting ready to prepare the report file. His head was cocked slightly towards Tina. “That’s not the only thing that matters to me though.” He gave her a strange smile before walking into his office, door closely quietly behind him. 

 

Tina found herself thinking about those words for a long while after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaand we're BACK. Our time to sin has come once more, my children. I can't get enough of these two, lawd jesus help me. I hope this whole "plot" thing doesn't fall to pieces owo
> 
> also I really should put this after every chapter, but I do apologize for typos or grammar mistakes. Odds are I'll fix them within a day or two as I'm rereading, but if there are any glaring ones I really don't mind if yall let me know. Believe me, those things bother me too and I really won't get upset if you point them out to me. stay classy yall.


End file.
